What is the cause of an obdii code p0340 even after the camshaft position sensor was replaced and the wiring is good to the pcm for a 2000 ford contour 2.0 liter 4 cylinder?

Answer 1

You really didn't give enough engine info, because there were three different 2.0 liter 4 cylinder engines in a 2000 Contour. But I am going to take a wild guess and say that you probably have an VCT engine. You will know because it will have a big "VCT" stamped across the valve cover, and a two-wire elecrical connector sticking straight out of the middle of the front end of the valve cover, close to the number 1 spark plug. That "VCT" means everything, because it stands for Varible Cam Timing, and is probably the at root of your problem. In the VCT system, the PCM actually advances and retards the exaust camshaft. I mean it actually clocks the cam itself either forward or backward by using a special cam gear that can literally be turned to a different position on the end of the camshaft. The PCM can actually turn it, by using a pressurized oil feed passage that applies oil pressure to a special mechanism inside the cam gear to reposition it on the camshaft, thus advancing and retarding the cam timing. Then it uses the cam sensor to moniter the camshaft position. If the PCM makes an adjustment to the camshaft, and then sees that the camshaft is in the wrong position by means of the cam sensor, it will set a P0340. I will tell you this. Those sensors are almost bullet proof. I have never had to replace a cam sensor on a Contour. I work in a shop with about 20 guys and there has only maybe been 2 of those sensors replaced in the last couple of years in my shop. They just dont go bad hardly. What does go bad is that special gear I just described and the VCT valve that the PCM uses to control it. A big contributing factor to causing these things to go bad in the first place is usually not changing the oil often enough or switching up brands of oil. The passages in those things are the size of a pinprick, and even the slightest tiny bit of sludge at all kills them. The exaust cam has to be removed to replace the VCT valve. INSTALLER BEWARE! It requires a set of special cam alignment tools to put it back together. There are no alignment marks and there are no keyways on the gears, so the cam gear will spin freely on the end of the camshaft once the bolt is loose. There is one more simpler possibility. That you have a problem in the VCT control wiring back to the PCM. It's that connector that is sticking out of the top of the valve cover. Inspect that wiring, and especially where it goes directly into that connector. Sometimes you get a break in that wiring, and the PCM loses control of the VCT. That will also set a P0340.